Paradise Kiss, released this year and directed by Takehiko Shinjo, is a Japanese movie based on the manga of the same name which has been translated into at least 10 languages, including Vietnamese.

Sponsored by the Japan Foundation Centre for Cultural Exchange, the film festival will be held in Ha Noi from October 20-26 and in the central city of Da Nang on November 11-13.

Eight award winning movies will be featured in the lineup, including: Kamui, The Milkwoman, A Stranger of Mine, Sawako Decides, Water Boy, The Twilight Samurai and the animated story Mai Mai Miracle.

In Ha Noi, each of the movies will be shown twice during the festival at the National Cinema Centre and once at Le Do Cinema, 46 Tran Phu Street.

"Love is one of life's most important themes, but the way to express it and how audiences feel love in different cultures and among individuals can vary," said the festival's organiser.

Paradise Kiss, for instance, depicts the gradual development of love between a handsome fashion designer-to-be and a high school girl, while the action movie Kamui focuses on love for freedom.

"Both films star Japan's most in-demand talents, including Kenichi Matsuyama and Koyuki who stared in the popular productions Norwegian Wood and The Last Samurai, respectively, but the lovers in each film are totally different," said the organiser.

In The Milkwoman, an unmarried 50-year-old woman holds on to memories of her first love from high school for years and quietly follows unexpected turns after her encounter with the married middle-aged civil servant decades later.

The time spiral story of A Stranger of Mine, on the other hand, follows the comic love story of a businessman who falls in love with a near stranger.

All of the movies will be screened with English and Vietnamese subtitles. — VNS